Windows 11 - 3 Months Later & Removing Microsoft's Spyware

After using Windows 11 for about 3 months now, I have found some things about it that really need to be improved. Everything takes time but this might help you decide if you want to upgrade after all.
Microsoft Privacy Dashboard - tinyurl.com/4a9b4h23
Twitter - / realbulletbarry
Discord - / discord
Patreon - / bulletbarry
Instagram - / barry1bullet
Steam Trade Link - tinyurl.com/y6ck27ba
The rest of my links are in my about page! :D

[@warrengibson7898]

As a visitor from the Linux world I am astonished at the abuse you folks take from MS.

[@The_Penguin_City]

Concurrent.

[@fredmckinney8933]

I'm a Linux user, too (Debian Stable), and my elderly mom recently bought a new computer -- running Windows 11, of course. Already, I've been called over to her house once to remove scumware.

[@The_Penguin_City]

@@fredmckinney8933 Scumware, jajajaja.

[@huskiehuskerson5300]

Great for gaming

[@alantasman8273]

It appears that MS is gunning for you Linux users as their mandated new hardware requirements to install Windows 11 do not allow for Linux installations. I may be wrong about this, but this is what I have heard. By the way, what is the best install distro for Linux currently...I am looking at leaving MS all together.

[@sbts6388]

I uninstalled windows 11 and went back to windows 10 immediately after seeing that they've made it more difficult for user to change the default browser. Glad to know that I'm not the only one annoyed by this 'new design'

[@FuckDaGovernment]

start & contextmenue were my reasons

[@thomassinker7936]

It took me like 15 seconds to change default browser...

[@SoundwaveZabuza]

Latest update allows you to change default browser with one click now like Win10.

[@ShooberTimber]

smart man. great timing on your part too, because while it's not official yet, MicroShit is tooling around behind the scenes with a potential update that will start forcing ads to display in file explorer for Win11.

[@hipflipped]

@@SoundwaveZabuza Yeah, but don't tell that to people wanting their net rage.

[@nicholasmaude6906]

MS should be prosecuted for loading spyware onto the Windows OS, spyware should be illegal.

[@huskiehuskerson5300]

Cmon "it improves the windows and makes it work better"

[@zurkke]

They always get away with stuff like that by calling it "enhance/improve your experience". You see that in social media, apps in general, and now in OSs. It's straight up scary.

[@elijahsmall5873]

Why did they add spyware to Windows 11? And what does it mean for me as a person that uses Windows 11? Because personally, I kinda like Windows 11 with the new changes and additions.

[@zurkke]

@@elijahsmall5873 You might not notice it, but all the ads for already pre-installed third-party apps like TikTok, Disney+, etc are basically there to sell you as a consumer. Then you have the data collecting, or as they call it, "experience enhancement". You'll start to get ads for your interests because Microsoft has access to what you search for. Also shoving Edge and other Microsoft products in your mouth, as well as forcing you into the Microsoft Store.

[@elijahsmall5873]

@@zurkke I get what you're saying now and I also wanted to know if you could explain a little more in detail on how they're forcing me into MS Edge and the MS Store? Also, can't I just uninstall Disney+, Tiktok, etc?

[@datriaxsondor590]

The only way to get a "good" version of Windows 11, is to get an ISO that has been hacked to hell and back, to physically remove all the trash requirements and spyware. Doing anything through the menu, is redundant, as everything is silently re-enabled anyways. TPM 2.0 is another step in their glacial maneuvering to lockdown Windows. One step at a time, MS is turning Windows into a closed platform. Not happening overnight, but, it is happening.

[@NeverTrustGovrnmentOrGlobalist]

Well I'll be using Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC 2019 to the very end until I cant use a web browser on it anymore. First thing thing I did is disable secure boot and TPM on my MB. Also I disable all the unnecessary Windows services and scheduled task. Got rid of any telemetry or spying files I could find. Since doing that I only have like 40 processes running in the background when my computer sits idle. When I do security updates I still get 40 processes running in the background. I always check my setting and everything else after the updates.

[@soundspark]

If Microsoft is locking down, then why did the MS Store become more open, allowing third-party distributed apps that the Store can't even manage after installing?

[@NeverTrustGovrnmentOrGlobalist]

@@soundspark I never use MS Store at all. In fact I have it removed off my computer. It's stupid will never use it. If I want apps then I can get them on a ton of different sites. I don't trust any apps by Microsoft at all. There is all kinds of alternatives out there you just have to look. Also recommend not to use google search engine for finding stuff either.

[@iamnizorro9781]

@@soundspark Because they are incompetent!

[@ErebusXanti]

Already considered closed source by Wikipedia lol

[@anderssorenson9998]

I don't think that Microsoft are being transparent of their own volition, I think it might have more to do with EU data protection laws. For example the EU telling facebook to "Well go on, fuck off then" when they threatened to pull facebook and instagram from Europe if they didn't let them hold private data outside of the EU.

[@frozendude707]

Yup, if Microsoft did not allow EU citizens to delete their data from MS servers, they would probably be fined a few million per day of non-compliance, that has happened before. Sure it does not have to be automatic, a request per mail is enough for the law, and they do not have to extend the same courtesy to non-EU citizens, but the hassle of hiring an army to do it manually and check the citizen status of each requester probably means this is the easier approach.

[@douglaidlaw740]

I don't like the way in which the EU imposes its standards on the whole world, but all their requirements have been worth having, and involving transparency to end users, something that M$ sees as abhorrent.

[@frozendude707]

@@douglaidlaw740 Well it is not quite like that, those laws only apply within the borders of the EU, anyone wanting to do business internationally has the option to only conform to EU laws only in the parts of the business that is within the EU. And to be fair, there are also a lot of really stupid US laws that have effects outside the US simply because a business has part of their operations in the US, the DMCA and judicial corruption being big examples for non-US creators here on KZbin.

[@henryd4331]

@@douglaidlaw740 I disagree with you. The EU imposes regulations and standards to protect ils citizens and residents and by extension these apply to any companies conducting business there as well. If companies enforce the GDPR system to the whole world it is their choice, not a diktat from the EU.

[@blugaledoh2669]

Why would EU want private data outside of Europe?

[@jouebien]

FYI open power-shell in a folder location has been a thing since windows 7. All you have to do is shift+right-click. There is also an option to add it to the context menu without the shift.

[@Rijndael1998]

Came to say that. It was also in the menu bar in explorer

[@notneo7898]

Or just type cmd or powershell in the file path bar.

[@jonathanlevin7660]

1. Ctrl-L (focuses address bar) 2. Enter your shell command of choice: 'powershell'/'cmd'/'terminal'/'pwsh'/'wsl'/etc Bam, terminal in that working directory, no mouse needed. Thank me later.

[@bramvandenbroeck5060]

@@jonathanlevin7660 You can control windows without ever touching the mouse, the mouse makes it easier for sure, but if you really want, you can throw away your mouse and just get by using the keyboard!

[@bramvandenbroeck5060]

@David Watkins I don't see the need to upgrade anytime soon, i think by myself "what benefits does it gives me if i upgrade to 11?", and at this moment? None, other than maby software that might break, like an app i use on my lenovo laptop, i went back to 10, but my main pc stays on 10, no need to upgrade ;)

[@blackyonbi]

Windows 11 Made me learn Linux. It was a nightmare trying to get into My BIOS due to the whole booting restrictions Windows has implemented over the years.

[@Ghaz013]

I came here to second this statement. Went Arch as my distro and havent looked back. I have 1 Windows 7 VM as a means of legacy apps but it runs in a VM for a reason.

[@graalcloud]

I had no idea that Windows 11 has been out for 3 months but that fact is extremely frightening to me. I literally refuse to upgrade and it's serious this time.

[@The_Penguin_City]

Use Linux instead.

[@randomusername0x0]

@@The_Penguin_City Linux is the superior OS but god the fact that some apps are unusable on Linux is such a turn off man

[@The_Penguin_City]

@@randomusername0x0 Soon, when Russia, China, Iran and India evil group divide information science regions forever, we will see the emergence of new trends in OSes that will change Human history in unforseable ways. By the way, there are better Os out there, like Solaris by example.

[@ronguin7062]

Yep, I still have a PC with windows 7 pro just to extend the old middle finger to microshaft. Mynonly windows 10 rig is my gaming machine and I O&O shut up and debbloat the piss out of that everything else is linux. If the steam deck does what I think it will, linux gaming will be a thing soon.

[@JoviBootlegs90]

There's really no need. Win 10 seems more stable now and will be supported until 2025.

[@andreasplosky8516]

What I love about Windows 11, is that it is basically clumsy, unfriendly, unfinished, and barely in beta state. It is a truly great downgrade experience compared to Windows 10. It is such a wonderful decision by Microsoft to release this version of Windows far too early to the public. They are obviously a real pro OS developer. Perhaps in a year or 2 it will be ready, and that is fine, because the best thing about Windows 11 is, that it is a completely superfluous release. Nobody needs it. Thank you Microsoft.

[@mikemines2931]

1000^

[@pauliliesi]

Nobody forces you to anything. Stop whining and use whatever you want

[@barrdack]

Stfu slave and consume!!! how dare you criticize the great work of your Masters? Maybe you thought you own something? What? you are not happy with owning nothing yet?

[@graemejohnson9025]

i fixed all in windows 11, in about 20 minutes, easy as? Its the old rule, idiots should't buy a Tesla, and idiots shouldn't buy a computer...

[@mikemines2931]

@@graemejohnson9025 Loaded Linux?

[@okamiboi]

"This actually delete everything from their servers" "I'm glad Microsoft are transparent on the data they're taking" *Oh boy, how naive you are*

[@kingrofty]

I used Windows 11 Home since it became available for download. Last month I went back to Windows 10 Home, and just so happy. So, I did give Windows 11 a fair chance, but you simply need to sacrifice too much. Windows 10 is way lighter on resources and it's just great to have a functioning Start menu back again.

[@sarpkaplan4449]

how the fuck can you make a os heavier than win 10

[@kingrofty]

@Michaels Carport Windows 11 just feels empty. Maybe it's most amplified with the new Windows 11 Start Menu, which only contains the same icons that's already on your Task Bar. And then a list of your most recent files. That's it. In Windows 10, my Start Menu has my latest weather, new releases on Spotify, new releases on Netflix - the list goes on.

[@soundspark]

@@sarpkaplan4449 Install it on a HDD then never defrag.

[@sarpkaplan4449]

@@soundspark i meant out of the box, win 10 is already bloated as a whale that was on some shore for 2 months straight

[@williambaldwin9346]

Exactly word for word just changed the OS name as what we said moving from Windows 7 to 10...

[@tristandunn4628]

Love the linux gag at the end! Vista was enough to push me to Linux and I'm so pleased I did. Having to go through the OS and switch all that off looks to be a complete nightmare. I think I read somewhere that as soon as you get a feature update release to the next sub-version of Windows, a lot of those settings get switched back on again. That's horrendous. I don't really know what the answer is. I'm pretty sure Apple and Google are hoovering up information about us by the bucketload through our phones. Don't think we can escape it unless we completely opt out

You read somewhere and assume it's completely true?

[@tristandunn4628]

Fair point! Everything on the internet is true, isn't it?! 😁

[@johna.anderson922]

@ Everything bad you say about Microsoft isn't true or false, it's the assurance of implementing a suggestion. I mean, they moved to a philosophy of "your PC is mine even if you paid for it" and you would be really that surprised of the aforementioned, more or less innocuous hypothesis for the unaware and careless user? Microsoft is built on violating the law, that's its core business. You know, it's drug dealers' behaviour. Only those who are not addicted complain.

[@johna.anderson922]

Congratulations for switching to Linux. Even if I have to say, I don't know if it's still happening, there were intelligence agencies monitoring some types of Linux communities. You are too smart for them and therefore dangerous ;-)

[@johna.anderson922]

@dj Kplus *_"its hilarious that linux people think customizing settings is a nightmare"_* _______________________________________ And technically they don't. The nightmare is/would be not having control over your system, being forced to waste time on something that should be taken for granted without the assurance that it will stay that way: _"... a lot of those settings get switched back on again."_ And there is no doubt it's true, either you see it or not, otherwise they wouldn't feel the need to put it in their contract to preserve their booties. Not having control, that's a nightmare for "linux people".

[@minhphuongduong6676]

To enhance your privacy, you can edit all the settings in Group Policy Editor - > Administrative Templates -> System. You can turn off cortana, disable completely diagnosis data...

[@DavidStruveDesigns]

Doesn't it turn most of those back on again though the moment a new update is forced onto you? I've heard that from quite a few sources.

[@ChristopherGray00]

it comes back next update every time, best solution is to just switch to linux. also a lot of the spying functions are not actually optionable in the front end requiring you to use hacks, that later get overwritten by updates anyways.

[@ChristopherGray00]

@@DavidStruveDesigns yes it does, i've tried removing the spyware multiple times and it just comes back from the dead on every update.

[@ajaykoemar3979]

Guess I’ll have to run a domain controller at home😅

[@GugureSux]

11 years later, and I'm still sticking to Windows 7 as my daily driver. Got no trouble whatsoever with it. It's very secure, "offline" if you catch my drift, uses way less resources, and generally stays out of my way. Games still work just fine. Multimedia editors still work great. Browsers and such are exactly the same no matter the system. There's plenty of functional antivirus software to choose from. Seriously, when Win7 finally becomes obsolete for real, probably around the time when Wee10 is killed off (circa 2025), I've probably been already using a Linux distro of some sort for a while.

[@truereaper4572]

you should probably switch to windows 10 man

[@krashd]

I couldn't use a pre-Windows 10 system again, from Windows 95 to Windows 8.1 was nothing but a myriad of BSODs. Pull out a cable > BSOD. Attempt to force close an app > BSOD. Have a glitchy driver > BSOD. Nah, I wouldn't go back to the days when Windows couldn't resolve errors.

[@grimsonforce7504]

I still use win7 also, win10 sucks and win11 is worse. I'd switch to Linux but they don't run the art programs I need.

[@petersack5074]

@@krashd Okay, Rob. ONE MUST ALWAYS, USE SOFTWARE ABOUT 6 MONTHS, TO A YEAR LATER, THAN THE HARDWARE......this would solve, most of your BSODs...... INSTALLING PROPER DRIVERS FROM THE HARDWARE MANUFACTURER IS C R U C I A L.. stay away from '' driver ''' updaters, and other bs/junk/ usually a few hundred kilobytes of ' infection''. HP has probably the best website, for their hardware/software. i stay a mile away from dell, lenovo and ibm. mostly proprietory junk. Dell ESPECIALLY......nuts. Although, their old turn-of-the-century desktops, had a magnificent cpu cooler. They make very good heatsinks, for my AC welder i converted to DC. Screwed a 300 amp large bridge rectifier to it. Works awesome another thing, never install version .1 of anything....wait till the 'bugs' are worked out. THIS DOES NOT APPLY to modern ' windows 10 and 11 '' AS THERE ARE bugs DAILY.........MICROsoft '' micro-brain '' i will be productive DAILY USING WIN 7. several computers, some on internet, and some for PRODUCTION WORK .

[@petersack5074]

ADVICE from tech teacher, over 30 years ago.....'' don't install anything, version .1 (old tech) meaning ? don't use win 10 or 11 linux. qube, or win 7

[@StrutTower]

You've been able to open the command prompt/PowerShell in a specific folder for years. Shift + Right Click will show the option in Windows 7/8/10. You can even make this show up in the normal right click menu if you make some changes to the registry.

[@MerseYattle]

hi, is it possible to have the text of the program shown too not just the symbol of it, as it is on w10, in the taskbar? i dislike this the most and prevents me from switching basically, if it is only in registry or something i dont mind just the some possibility would do cheers

[@Pro720HyperMaster720]

8:00 you could also do that in previous versions of Windows, like Windows 10, 8 and 7, but is a little hidden, you need it to press SHIFT in the keyboard and then right click so you get an extended context menu with that option and more, also at least they made an improvement recently readding in Windows 11 the drag and drop over the task bar, and btw although is very annoying for me that they don't at least let you customize the right click in the task bar to add previous options like task manager, you still can right click on the Windows start button on the task bar and options like the task manager is there. And before they finally added the drag and open apps things I said above they suggested you use an alternative that is click to drag the file, but instead of going over the task bar press Alt+Tab to switch to where you wanted to drag the file and you'll be still holding it so you can drop it where you want without the task bar, although an option I find very inconvinient converting a simple mouse movement in a combination of mouse movement with a multi key combination

[@W0lff]

You could open the command prompt from the directory on windows 10 too, but it was just a bit more hidden. What you do is open the folder, go to the address bar and type cmd and press enter. then it opens the command prompt at that specific address.

[@Omaricon]

at 08:00, the Windows Terminal is great, but you can download it from the store on Windows 10. Also, before Windows Terminal you could do an easy regedit to re-add a feature they removed which allowed you to open a terminal in a specific folder by shift + right clicking in a folder to open a cmd prompt in that folder (You can do it with powershell without a regedit).

[@TheoWerewolf]

In previous Windows, shift-Right click in a folder gives you the option to open powershell or cmd at that location. You can also open a command window, type cd then drag drop the folder into the window and hit return.

[@vgamesx1]

8:00 You could already do this in Windows 10 and I think 8/7 too, you simply had to hold shift then right-click, although it doesn't give the option for powershell and the new terminal is nice. Although it wasted resources I definitely prefer the Wnidows 7 theme over 10 or 11 and one feature I miss from Windows 7 is if you crtl+shift right-click on the start menu it gave you an "exit explorer" option, that was rather handy as explorer occasionally has problems, so that made it a tad easier to restart it by having "explore.exe" already in the run prompt or task manager. Oh and it wasn't the biggest loss, but I quite liked the left sidebar on Vista, so instead of that useless gadget/news panel 11 has, you could pin apps and stuff to it, so it was a bit like having a second start window.

[@israellai]

yeah been doing it for years but I guess you had to know the secret trick to do that

[@redgeoblaze3752]

I've been using Linux for about 2 years now. You'll definitely want to keep a windows partition installed in-case you have a game that won't work on Linux, but most of them work just fine through wine or proton. Configuring the system to get games to work just fine on Linux does take a lot of time and knowledge of how Linux works, but the customizability and privacy you get with Linux is unmatched. I tried using Windows recently, and there are just a lot of things I didn't even notice until I was without them for so long. Windows stutters and slows down randomly a lot, but that just doesn't happen on my Linux installation. And I know that you mentioned this line in your video, but if you try out a tiling window manager, you'll never want to go back. (my personal favorite choice is bspwm running within XFCE for those nice Desktop environment GUI tools)

[@moth5799]

Linux honestly isn't for everyone yet, there are still more issues that can crop up with day to day use that affect the experience that aren't game related. Unsupported features, etc. I've been using Linux since I was 5, and I prefer it, but a lot of people will just end up going back to windows. Linux isn't ready for mass adoption.

[@BulletBarry]

that is very good to know, I'm gonna get myself a basic laptop and run a few different versions of linux on it! might be a fun stream to find out which ones I like the most!

[@sunsetmiracula7482]

@@BulletBarry yeah man do another livestream for Linux that would be sick!

[@yogsothoth2194]

@@BulletBarry Maybe do a 'Linux challenge' like Linus did with a spare gaming PC if you enjoy it on the laptop also :)

[@TheCzele]

@@BulletBarry I am straightway recommending to try Fedora

[@rexiiforsure9558]

I was looking at the aes-128 documentation , it claims there’s code for it but I can’t find it anywhere. I’m wondering if anyBody had found it used the code. Does anybody know if Dr. Starling or Mr. Stepp still work there?

[@rexor8527]

As someone who has stuck with Windows 10 and seen both of your videos on the topic, I can say I'm happy with my choice. (wall of text warning) I was expecting so many different things, but now I'm seeing it, the new skin is really the only plus Windows 11 has. (Starting from items in your last video) Clipboard, while different, I've been using it on windows 10 for coming up on three years now. The widget menu as I'm sure everyone knows has been on windows 10 since they announced 11, not that anyone uses or likes it. The fancy window snapping, or FancyZones, has been a feature of Microsoft PowerToys since late 2019! though the grouping is quite nice. The multiple desktops thing isn't new with windows 11, I don't think it was even new with Windows 10, I might be mistaken, but I think it was from back in 8 or 8.1, though I don't know anyone who uses it other than students wanting a quick way to hide their games. Windows Sandbox is available in windows 10 in the "turn windows features on and off" page, assuming you have Pro and your device has that capability. I'm not sure if you've never seen it, or if they have changed it, but the Microsoft store _definitely has_ been around since 8, and the HDR display settings have been around for several years. Now for this video, I feel like there _was_ a way to turn off the web searching from the taskbar in settings, though I can't find it now, but you still can do it via group policy or regedit, which should work for Windows 11 too. Not only could you shift right click anywhere to have the option to "open in PowerShell" since Windows 7, but Windows Terminal has had a public preview on GitHub since before PowerToys even existed (if you check the releases, the first few were actually color picker! before it was moved to PowerToys), and 1.0 came out May 2020, which was when I first got it, while less stable then, it was more than usable for an entire year before Windows 11 was even teased, no features excluded. So, other than the grouped tabs, and new coat of paint, I really see no benefit to Windows 11, and when weighing it against its negatives, well, let's just say, at least Windows 8 tried something new.

[@RRKS_TF]

8:08 fun fact! In file explorer, you can type cmd into the folder path/URI and it will open a command prompt in that directory. That being said windows terminal is much more convenient as you can have bash, wsl, vs20xx and cmd all in one app that is easy to open in a specific directory. It's worth noting that the Linux in windows or WSL is also on win10. wsl is very nice if you are testing an application between operating systems

[@RRKS_TF]

@StrizFPS I knew about both of those and they are cool! You get a good feeling when you learn power-user things

[@Yggdrasil42]

That cmd tip is great. I'm also a big fan of Terminal and WSL. Couldn't do my sysadmin work without them.

[@iclonethefirst]

Hey Barry, you should check out "Microsoft PowerToys". They are a great set of productivity tools. It includes a better searchbar, a color picker etc.

[@BulletBarry]

what!!!! doing this now!!

[@ajddavid452]

I'm pretty sure they don't work on windows 11

[@larock0wns]

@@ajddavid452 PowerToys does work on Win11

[@iclonethefirst]

@@BulletBarry Have fun, hopefully it will make your day better :D

[@iclonethefirst]

Just noticed, if you scroll down completly on some pages, there are attributions because it's forked. And there also one for the search aka PowerToys Run, so Microsoft didn't manage it themselves xD

[@Daniel-dj7fh]

I've got my tpm turned on on bios and everything, the pc also says that the PC can do 11. But I don't know if my Motherboard has this UEFi thing, would I be safe? R5 3600 on an msi Pro M2 motherboard

[@JohnnyT002]

I don't like the new update they did to the groove player . It doesn't work right on my desktops it can't find my music collection in the music library. It does play the videos in the video library But on the laptop I got a month ago the new player works. Does anyone know how to fix this problem?

[@HAV0X_]

you should try out linux, daily drive it for a while and come back to windows and compare what you like. that would make for an interesting experience and video.

[@Marsman512]

Have you seen Linus' Linux videos? I know Barry's quite tech savvy, and I'm sure his community would be more than willing to help, but I don't think he'd be all that fond of it unless he'd be willing to put in the time and energy required to learn to ditch his Windows habits and learn how to set up and use his system. For a power user, there's a lot of information to sift through if you want something custom, as I'd imagine he would. I'm not saying he wouldn't do it, but I wouldn't count on it.

[@BulletBarry]

I'm gonna get myself a cheap little laptop and run a bunch of different linux kernals and find the one I like most! it would be a fun set of streams as well as a good video!

[@HAV0X_]

@@BulletBarry nah mate do it on your main build. full dive or low dive >:)

[@Lord_David.]

@@BulletBarry why would you try different kernels? I think you mean distros. Linux has a lot of distros, but the latest kernel is the best one. In theory, Linux is the kernel, and everything else is just extra software, but you'll figure that out if you dive deeper into Linux. Anyway, distros. I hope you do give Linux a go. I've been using it for a year and a half, and it's great.

[@HAV0X_]

@@Marsman512 going full dive into linux is very scary at first, even for an experienced windows user. the community can help a ton as well. linus's videos really did show the truth about linux living, but since its been a while from me seeing it ill have to look over it again.

[@szabotudor]

3:50 You can right click start button for the settings that usually appeared when clicking the taskbar

[@stopandlisten6070]

Can't you open taskmanager by right-clicking the Start icon instead?

[@shubhamverma1113]

How to get that mouse arrow?

[@kran27_]

you can update to windows 11 on the "outdated cpu" without TMP 2.0 by using a registry tweak. and using something like winaero tweaker you can put the taskbar on the top, but not the sides. (unless you also use winaero to revert to the windows 10 taskbar) i also use StartAllBack to get a better start menu (and I don't think that searches the web when you search) you can also get back the old right click menu with winaero the program "Everything" has amazing search functions, for finding specific files and also using PowerToys adds a lot of useful features, such as a macos-like search bar when you press Alt+Space, an a lot more. also, SuperF4 is a great tool that adds a new shortcut, Ctrl+Alt+F4, which will force-kill the focused app instead of asking it to close, so it works on most stalled apps, and just works faster overall. those are my personal suggestions as a power user, there may be some I'm missing but those seem to cover every major issue i have with windows.

[@zombi6535]

Or just use a bootable usb

[@igordasunddas3377]

I wish there was a registry hack, which ENSURES I don't get the upgrade nag screens on an upgradable system.

[@tonywise198]

...and then you get a nag watermark (as at 22 Feb 22).

[@shwetabhkumar2177]

Yup did it all, still the ui felt clunky and a little slow. Moreover I would not recommend it to anyone with 8 Gb Ram..as the Ram consumption has increased compared to Windows 10

[@degenerate8228]

You don't need all this. Use Rufus make a bootable windows 11 usb stick disabling TPM. My old crappy duo core CPU is using windows 11.

[@SoTotallyToby]

Does anyone know what cursor pack he's using? It looks great!

[@Chillcrow]

windows 11 cursors concept v2 i think?

[@h1de]

Can you still not remove the XBox thing and does it still require like 5 windows of Edge open at all time on the background?

[@harrymarch1232]

☝️✌️Read My Bio I’m So Happy Mine Is Working 😊✅💯..

[@Corteum]

Does removing the spiewares mean svchost wont try to connect to micro servers?

[@JonoSSD]

It's funny how new versions of Windows keep removing options or making them more difficult to find and/or use. It already took years for me to move to 10 because it's vastly inferior to 7 in pretty much everything, but Microsoft's constant chase after Apple just makes 11 even more unappealing. I'm stuck with Windows at work because of Adobe, but as soon as Linux gets more support I'm switching for good this time.

[@robinwatson4282]

Bully for you, man!

[@justin-hurd]

Same, as a clip studio paint user, I'm counting the days. I'm done with Microshaft.

[@robinwatson4282]

@@justin-hurd Good luck, man.

[@SonicBodhi1]

So I’m pretty confident that the decision to hold back on the ‘free upgrade’ to my two machines from Windows 10 to 11 was the correct one, based on this review.

[@SayAhh]

I only upgraded recently becauae TurboTax wouldn't run on Win7. I made my peace with it since there are more security fixes for Windows 10 but I wish they would have supported Win7 indefinitely.

[@mikem9536]

Windows 10 has 2 years left, and it's already getting left behind by MS since they're now working on Windows 12.@@SayAhh

[@piggyhero5174]

I'm not sure if this is a setting or I just haven't figured it out now but I hate that I cant disable background apps and I have to go into each one individually now to disable it.

[@SpaceCadet4Jesus]

Background apps?

[@barneysman9116]

Is it possible for Win 11 to take a screenshot of my screen? For example when I create a crypto wallet. A case when I need a seed phrase shown on my monitor.

[@soggycatgirl]

While neither of these are optimal, they might still help if you're not aware: 5:10 -- I think you can use alt-tab when dragging. 5:50 -- There's a registry tweak to go back to the old context menu, which works well. I've personally switched back to windows 10, windows 11 is half-baked at best.

[@perfishfan]

For the record you *could* open the terminal in windows 10 by holding shift and right clicking. Maybe they thought normal users were too dumb so they made it an obscure shortcut.

[@user-xx4pe1st7k]

One question where did you get the cursor?

[@irishamil]

My lenovo legion 5 win11 with amd cpu when i set the screen timeout it does not wake even pressing the keyboard or mouse and the screen remains with no display, tried all off the solution here in yt nothing seem to work. All drivers are updated and the bios also. I just set screen timeout to never and sleep to never very sad.

[@SpaceCadet4Jesus]

Revert your Lenovo HDR display driver to an earlier version or couple versions back. Once it works, don't update your drivers until Lenovo comes up with a fix. It's a known issue on that laptop.

[@diskgrind3410]

100% agree with you on all of your points. I've been an avid techy and always loved getting the new OS and learn about it as soon as I can. I've tried 11, dual booted it with 10 and it broke because of a windows update, to funny. Windows 11 is a lot of hard work to adjust to. I know of no customers of mine presently that want to go to windows 11. Linux is looking pretty good and the gaming experience is gaining steam!

[@diskgrind3410]

@Michaels Carport Been doing the same since DOS, I feel ya!

[@typingcat]

About the context menu and "Show more options", I think this is because Microsoft has changed the context menu registration API. So, applications that use the old API cannot add context menus to the new context menu, and what Microsoft want is that the developers adopt new API. So, I think instead of somehow making old application entries show up in the new context menu, Microsoft just shows the new context menu with new API's, and for the old applications, it shows the old menu as it was. That is why we see duplicates, and I think this is probably transitory. That is, old context menu will be removed or difficult to open.

[@robinwatson4282]

Someone who actually talks some sense.

[@mikem9536]

But there's no reason to change it.

[@stefanfilip6319]

how get that cursor

[@richardcowley4087]

How do i delete cortana from windows 10 ?

[@wouterdeen]

One of the biggest problems with Windows 11 for me is the new Explorer and the task bar system. The design is a step forward, don't get me wrong, but functionality-wise it just got downgraded to almost mobile-like functionality. You can't drag files to different apps anymore. The performance of Explorer is somehow horrible. Every time you try to open up a new folder, there's a delay. Does anyone else experience this delay, or is it just me? I switched to the Files app from GitHub (which also has a far better design and more functionality), but of course that doesn't work as flawless as the native Explorer app from Win10. I feel like apart from the design overhaul, Windows 11 is a step backwards functionality-wise.

[@soundspark]

Taskbar drag and drop is back with the upcoming 22H2 update.

[@aashutoshtaikar1762]

Each new macOS focuses on increasing the efficiency as well as adding new features, however, windows only focuses on adding new features on the expense of increased resource utilization, because why not make the resource sucking OS even more resource hungry. MS engineers should be given Celeron processor and 4gb ram to develop and test their unnecessary changes they make to their OS.

[@robinwatson4282]

Buy a Mac. Enjoy

[@Exitof99]

Thank you. I literally just commented on a CNet video on Windows 11 and the taskbar being glued to the bottom. It's bad design as tabs and menus are at the top, so it forces moving between the top and the bottom of the screen way too much rather than having everything right next to each other.

[@klowiepagente3531]

Thanks this really helped me a lot of my new laptop. Love your cursor btw may I know where I can download?

[@TejasNaik01]

MS definitely trying to re-invest the wheel. It's like MS is punishing users for sticking with windows.

[@MirelRC]

Take a look at the latest update. They have done some nice updates. Now we can drag the file we want to drop on programs like in the good old days. We can pin shortcuts on taskbar by drag and drop. And for task manager, yeah we can right click on start button, still I don't like that, but I've got used to it, mostly using the shortcut key. Another thing I like is that we can make folders with programs in start menu, main menu of stat. I like a the way the task manager is looking, still it needs some work, but it's on dark mode (this makes it be 100% better ;) ). In future it will be way better than Windows 10.

[@Bishalkarn]

Which update?

[@sixunity1171]

@@Bishalkarn build 22557

[@Grungehead1993]

Or press windows key and X

[@jat5am]

how about bringing back bloody movable tiles in start menu and the ungrouping ability for the taskbar?

[@SteveMacSticky]

personalized ads? what do you mean? do you get ads in the operating system? I am FOSS user so I don't know

[@Tobykaani]

There is register edit to disable the bing search when you look for your files. It's 100% mandatory as your search is 3-5 times slower with the Bing integration, not to even mention all the times it accidentally opens the webpage when you look for something.

[@yorimirus]

I also had a glitch where for some reason when searching, the "search on the web" feature was always on the top, even though there were actual results on the computer. Turned it off because of that because I use keyboard a lot and pressing enter, expecting a program to appear, and instead seeing edge is annoying. Uninstalled edge too by the way. Will definitely switch my laptop to linux once its warranty ends.

[@DivergentDroid]

My next build will be on Windows 8 with Classic Start Menu and with the Direct x 12 patch. It's either that or Windows AME which is a version with everything stripped out.

[@andreic1755]

Where can I find this picture? 4:37?

[@scalliboy2698]

MS's reasons for the CPU requirement is apparently security and stability. You don't need a dedicated TPM switch. Firmware TPM will do. However if you update your BIOS or similar stuff, you may run into problems. If your motherboard dies, I'm pretty sure your storage is encrypted and can't be used on another.

[@pedroveloso9707]

yes, and in the real word, that hardware that is so expensive chips that are so hard to manufacture, we will "kill!" so much software that are very capable of working, in this days and the next years. ...... MS is running in APPLE ways... not a good move :(.... if linux drop so many distros.. it can be a alternative. if the story repetes it self, everyone will wait for the win12...kkkkkk

[@mikem9536]

@@pedroveloso9707One of the biggest issue with Linux for noobs is you ask what's the best distro and you get 10 different answers and a million different opinions on snaps, flatpacks, desktop manager, yada yada yada.

[@koczisek]

"Terminal illness" on Linux - good one :) But with TTYs and shells, transition to *NIX is actually even more binding. Bash has a fully-fledged scripting language, which compares to DOS like a handy toolbox to a pile of unfit Mesolithic rubble. Write one longer script and you'll feel like having a terminal aversion to returning to DOS. You''ll then most probably install MSYS or Cygwin and work with MinTTY+bash. Each time I must script something in DOS I feel like going to puke 1st.

[@yurkshirelad]

What's the install footprint of Windows 11 these days? 1Tb?

[@S1N1CAL]

Does Cloud-Delivered protection for Defender really send out more telemetry data? I was just under the impression that gave you more *inbound* sample updates from their cloud.

[@return9010]

Just upgraded my Acer Swift 3 314-43 Ryzen 5 notebook to Windows 11. It feels super smooth! Windows 11 (to me) felt like a cleaner and smoother version of Windows 10. Though, I'd advise you (yes, you) to make a backup/restore point before you decide to upgrade to Windows 11, just in case anything goes wrong. Overall, Windows 11 is a pleasant experience. Update: After 1 month of using Windows 11, my conclusion is that its amazing.

[@afallingtree9114]

to repeat what many have already said in the comments, Linux (PopOS or Manjaro/KDE imo) duel booted with windows is defiantly worth the hassle of setting it up. after 4 years, I dont think i could go back even if I wanted to, I just cant justify the price or performance hit on my older (7th gen) hardware.

[@igordasunddas3377]

I'm just angry at Windows 11. I already installed Ubuntu on my PC and passthrough a Windows VM for gaming, but honestly? The performance is a bit lower and it's a hassle.

[@afallingtree9114]

@@igordasunddas3377 performance will be low because your most likely using virtualbox (a type 2 hyperviser) which has a max of 128mb of VRAM. dont worry about windows if possible, but duelboot windows if losing those games is a deal breaker for you.

[@vali69]

Personally I think the best way to go about it is to juat have linux installed and then use windows in a virtual machine. Mental Outlaw has a video on a vm that passes the gpu through so any game you play in the windows virtual machine will have full access to the gpu so you aren't loosing that much performance compared to dual booting.

[@afallingtree9114]

@@vali69 I think the reason i didn't end up doing that was because Kenny used Virt-Manager instead of VBox and it required two GPUs (one for the host), but i think its about time i learnt how to use new tools.

[@vali69]

@@afallingtree9114 don't know exactly how it works but couldn't you use integrated graphics for example for linux and have your dedicated gpu for the vurtual machine? I haven't gotten around to use virt manager since I haven't yet moved to linux, and I'm probably not going to anytime soon until I save for a new pc and I don't want to install linux on my laptop because of driver issues with nvidia. Maybe I'll try dual booting, so maybe then.

[@MobCat_]

On windows 10, hold down shift first, then right click in a folder. the open command window here option will be there now.... however by default it opens powershell sooo yeah..

[@stephengordon4081]

Will it keep your settings after updating?

[@alenasenie6928]

The terminal is a feature that has been there at least from windows xp, I remember using it when I was a kid, it is not a new feature, also, in plasma there is this useful integration when you use f4 that puts the terminal alongside the folder, if you enter another folder it also moves the one in the terminal with you, that one is not implemented in windows yet.

[@shade0636]

He didn't say the terminal is a new feature, it's just that it's more convenient to use now.

[@BulletBarry]

@@shade0636 what this guy said ^^

[@shakeyourbunny]

@@BulletBarry Opening a terminal from a certain folder ist not a new Windows 11 feature, it is present at least since Windows 2000. You have to set a certain registry key or install Power Toys and check a box to enable it.

[@Polar_Onyx]

4 months later of using Linux and I have to say I've never felt so free before, it's been a great learning experience and it's made windows easier as well. It's a stark reminder every time I have to use windows again just how much better things can be once you are given choice. And I mean isn't choice the quintessential aspect of PC gaming? picking your hardware and your budget. Why shouldn't I be able to pick my software too?

[@vask92]

sure you can pick your software. What are you even talking about. There's a reason only a very small number of people uses linux compared to win. You can't do shit in it unless you're an actual linux developer. People just want their pcs to work, they don't want to spend 100s of hrs to learn how to recompile linux. Stuff on win just works. On linux nothing works and nobody knows how to make it work and there are 100s of different versions of linux.

[@Polar_Onyx]

​@@vask92 I see what you did there... "stuff on xbox just works. On PC nothing works and nobody knows how to make it work" lmao

[@louinjax07]

Can you use Ultra Search in Windows 11?

[@offroaders123]

I had a feeling that an ending joke was coming, but that was way better than I thought! Nice work 😂

[@Winther83]

Windows 11 was the main reason i finally did the 100% switch to Linux, i have previously just been playing around with disros but kept using windows. Sure i will admit its not completely painless and i do miss some windows apps that doesn't work well in wine and well learn to use wine and some other things. but that pain compared to win 11 and having Microsoft breathing down my neck is much nicer. though i still have a Win (10) partition for Fusion 360 since i have to have it for work if only it worked well in Linux i could delete that partition for more storage but overall and 99% games i tried work through Steam Proton and got 100% running with just a few lines in the startup so far.

[@pranze3484]

You can install win 10 on a USB SSD and boot from it when really needed with Rufus

[@richardbarrett8365]

Based on what you have shown I will pass until Win 12. Most of Win 11 looks more like a big piece of crap then a rose. I have used MS since Dos and ever version in between and MS just becomes much worse with this version. To help with how it looks, it is how it works and what you can do with it that makes a good OS. MS has apparently forgot that with it's need for your information. Other companies make spy ware and adware, so why do I want MS to make more of the same. It seems like it has became the time to break MS up into little bitty pieces.

[@Astinsan]

Dude… hows the airflow in that machine?

[@Daniel-dj7fh]

I have a small Keyboard and have esc mapped to the ^° button and even when pressing fn+(ctrl, shift, esc) I think Task Manager opens faster than the right click method.

[@sodiboo]

7:48 This isn't even a feature from Windows 11. This is part of Windows Terminal and already existed in Windows 10

[@Dotfo15]

You are both right and wrong. While yes, the terminal is a feature that was already optinally introduced with Windows 10 the version we are seeing in 11 is far more refined and feature rich. The most important feature for sure being the new WSLg which allows you to run graphical linux apps from windows

[@sodiboo]

@@Dotfo15 Oh yeah for sure, WSLg is a super awesome feature of Windows 11, however that's got nothing to do with the terminal, that's windows subsystem for linux. WSL was mentioned in this segment of the video, but the focus was on winterminal and how it's in the right click menu and can have multiple tabs. he didn't even mention WSLg.

[@killertruth186]

@@Dotfo15 Powershell is first on Windows 10.

[@wallmenis]

Yeah Barry you should try Linux. It's actually pretty decent.

[@4TheRecord]

I got Windows 11 installed on an HP Pavilion G6 from 2013. You can make your own Windows 11 setup disk that bypasses TPM and other restrictions. Works perfectly on old hardware, so shouldn't be a problem with anything newer.

[@InservioLetum]

@BulletBarry Tech question : how can I turn off S mode *_WITHOUT_* going online, or using a live account (not even a temporary one) So far I've just been giving people Ameliorated to replace it with, but this question is coming up more and more, I notice.

[@alantasman8273]

Sadly as MS stops support for pre -Windows 11 OS' , businesses will be forced to upgrade to 11+ requiring business employees who must sync with their employer computers to require upgrades as well. Businesses can stop this insanity by taking a stand against MS now before it is too late.

[@soundspark]

You don't need a dedicated TPM chip if your motherboard is new enough; it's called either Platform Trust Technology (PTT) on Intel or fTPM on AMD. TPM is mostly used for BitLocker and Windows Hello; it is designed to act as a hardware root of trust. Also it appears Valorant uses it, perhaps to log the TPM serial number for HWID banning.

[@CoffeeBritish]

I mean opening terminals is specific directories has been a feature already in Windows 10 as all you do is go to where your files are and in the search bar and type cmd or powershell and it starts in that directory

[@noodle_Cx]

what is that case at 1:00?

[@BulletBarry]

the silverstone mil08

[@badi1220]

Microsoft clearly want people to not use windows. Might as well try Linux, some games work really well, and console emulators are better compared to windows if not the same in terms of performance.

[@AlexandruCarjan]

Linux is the most crap and retarded operating system. A billion different OS versions all programmed completely different from one another with 0 compatibility to most everyday use programs, That is why nobody does games for Linux or tries to make programs compatible with them

[@Soapy-chan_old]

Aside from that they clearly like people using Windows and it's a great OS of course.

[@ScarlettStunningSpace]

Two words, Winaero Tweaker. It can fix a lot of the issues you're having and makes it seem more like Windows 10. Makes a world of a difference

[@ytuser208]

Everyone used that when windows 10 came out too. I never use the start menu though, a few shortcuts on the desktop is plenty.

[@kallegutta4849]

good review - can you bring some on middle button support and high contrast mode in win 11?

[@liamconverse8950]

What in theory/on paper are the improvements this windows version offers?

[@btarg1]

As I always say, never activate windows. Remember to use the command to set your "KMS server" and "activate" windows without paying. Windows is not worth ANY of your money.

[@iclonethefirst]

When you want a free os, grab Linux and deal with it

[@Praxss]

Can you elaborate more about how to set kms server?

[@Soapy-chan_old]

Aside from that it is worth it of course.

[@maruf7956]

Say the datails

[@michelvondenhoff9673]

Pulled the plug and updated to 11. So far so good. The only Windows I never was fond of was Vista, most fond XP and W7.

[@krashd]

Windows 98 Second Edition and Windows XP Service Pack 2 were great operating systems.

[@Caldermologist]

I always open the terminal by typing CMD in the address field in the folder I wish to work in.

[@Marcus_from_OZ]

I'm running it on an old machine (3770K), after spending the best part of a day disabling all of the "features", about the same time it takes on Windoze 10, it feels quicker. I've picked up maybe 5% in benchmarks but that's down to it being a "clean" install, if that's even possible with software these days. Putting the file manipulation tools on a second menu in File Manager is ludicrous, but there is, as with anything, a fix for that, and I look forward to more "features" as part of Critical Updates in the future.

[@lucstestaccount6852]

This video was great, and fully sold me on upgrading to Windows 7!

[@amattei6032]

not to me.

[@njtxus]

i just went to 10 about 2 months ago then finally gave up and went back to 7. i HATE 10

[@JohnSmith-xq1pz]

Removing Microsoft spyware... so you went Linux? From what I've heared it's already happening. Windows 11 adoption is at best 9% apparently lol

[@redgeoblaze3752]

Yeah, it's the only way to not have to constantly fight with your system to not fight with you.

[@JohnSmith-xq1pz]

@@redgeoblaze3752 Well as much as I'm not thrilled with Windows 10 I haven't any major issues... on my 3700x, my old man's Acer laptop has been a nightmare

[@redgeoblaze3752]

@@JohnSmith-xq1pz I get it. Linux does still have a long way to go before it's a decent gaming platform, but for average daily use, as long as you're not trying to mess with stuff you don't understand, it's brain-dead easy, and very powerful.

[@JohnSmith-xq1pz]

@@redgeoblaze3752 Hopefully one day those short comings well be taken care of, if they do I'll probably abandon Windows at the end of support for 10 because right now 11 is no full stop complete sentence.

[@redgeoblaze3752]

@@JohnSmith-xq1pz Stuff like Lutris and Proton are doing wonders for the platform as a gaming system. It's gotten to the point where some of us are adding a new member to the Penguin Gods. Linus Torvalds for Linux, Richard Stalman for GNU, and Gabe Newell for Proton.

[@MANS4ON-Ce137]

You have to index all your drives in order for the files to appear in the search. You can open a terminal in the same directory on Windows 7 and 10 by ctrl+shift + right click as well :)

[@craigschultz4]

~4:13: Strange, I have the clock on my second screen. However, I do wish I had access to other system tray stuff on the second screen, so I don't have to minimize the game played on the primary screen to access systray functions.

[@syscruncher]

Windows 11 was the reason I decided to finally switch to Linux. Yeah, I still need a Windows VM to run OneNote, but so far I’m happy I made the switch.

[@Yggdrasil42]

Is the OneNote web version not an option? I find the online Office tools are usually enough for my needs.

[@syscruncher]

@@Yggdrasil42 never knew about it. Is it a subscription? I have my old HUP license, and don’t feel like giving Microsoft any more of my money.

[@douglaidlaw740]

A pro-Windows 11 article said that Windows 11 is "simple" and has a low system load. What he didn't say is the reason for this. To use Windows 11, you need to have a Microsoft account and give M$ permission to set up your computer how they want, including all the back doors they choose to install, and including disabling your machine. If anybody else did that, it would be called Ransomware. No, thanks! They tried thi once before. They thought that they had all business users corralled and at their mercy. When they started charging exorbitant fees, the business community dumped them overnight.

[@dakrawnik4208]

get help, Doug.

[@GamerLudwig]

This video is amazing! Thank you so much for the advice with the privacy settings! However, i don't quite get how right clicking to open the terminal is any easier than typing wt in the adress bar You can still easily access command prompt including the terminal app via the file explorer on Win 10

[@kraio-sfu]

If I have Windows 10 Pro, can I upgrade to Windows 11 Pro for free?

[@thirdenvoqation7735]

Regarding hardware requirements, I post this here I posted elsewhere: Whilst the hardware requirements seem arbitrary they are there for a reason, they are setting the baseline for when Windows 10 sunsets in 2025. That means they need to force the manufacturers to support these features today to ensure that businesses lifecycles actually integrate the new hardware. It's also down to the underlying CPU tech such as the integration of Pluton, the standardising of HVCI (Intel's MBEC or AMD's GMET) and the TPM V2 is to prevent channel attacks and to protect biometric data that's impossible to change alongside protecting O365/Azure credentials on a host system. Windows 11 is becoming a on-line first OS with large parts of the OS becoming sandboxed/virtualised to reduce attack vectors. Yes early CPUs can run Win 11 but it comes at a performance penalty as they just don't have the required hardware support to mitigate the new security layers.

[@SlayerOmair]

but the thing is, every processor from the last 10 years or so has built-in software tpm 2.0, and intel processors as far back as the 5th gen support virtualization (not sure about amd though). They don't run it greatly, but they support it. so a reasonable cut off line would've been 5th/6thg gen intel cpus, cpus that are 6-7 years old but still perfectly usable and able to run windows 11.

[@thirdenvoqation7735]

@@SlayerOmair It's not just about virtualisation or the extension set from there. Read up on HVCI and Intel/AMD implementations that's on their chips (see above), there's up 50% performance difference between Zen 1 and Zen 2 when using Win 11 and the isolation modes. This is what people don't realise or even pay attention to unless they work in Enterprise. Basically it's part of the Secure-Core Initiative about creating a firmware level Root of Trust infrastructure. You need hardware accelerated integrity checks on virtualised instances, that's what GMET and MBEC does and why there's a hit to performance on non-supported CPUs (it runs a s/w emulation mode call Restricted User Mode ). Best way to think of these new features is the crypto extensions for AES, except it's for memory integrity. HVCI is in Win 10 but it's a) disabled by default and b) it's not a tightly integrated as in Win 11. You can find this setting under Core Isolation. Hope that helps you understand why and how Win 11 is different and why there's a difference in hardware.